Majority-Minority Markets

My name is Susan Saurage-Altenloh, and I’m a market research strategist who calls ’em like she sees ’em. Two decades spent in research on trends, perceptions and social interaction have imbued me with broad-ranging insights on what makes people, communities and the global village tick.

Factistics explores the many purported myths, assumptions and curiosities about Houston through the statistical lens of research to get to the truth about our great city. Fiction or fact? That’s what Factistics shares with you each week.

Now, about majority-minority markets…

The Houston metropolitan area has the second-highest minority population among the top ten largest markets in the U.S.

Ten percent of all U.S. counties are considered majority-minority, meaning the percentage of non-Hispanic whites is below 50 percent. An additional seven percent of the nation’s counties are at the tipping point and expected to become majority-minority soon.

Four states – California, Hawaii, New Mexico, and Texas – as well as Washington, DC, have majority-minority populations. Although Texas’ minority population is barely above half (50.2 percent), the Houston MSA has the second-highest minority population of any of the top-ten MSAs (63 percent). For comparison, New Mexico and California claim 57 percent minority populations while Hawaii is 77 percent nonwhite and Washington is composed of 70 percent non-Hispanic single-race whites.

As cited by the U.S. Census Bureau, "Five states – Maryland, Mississippi, Georgia, New York and Arizona – are next in line with minority populations of about 40 percent."

Of interest: Houston’s little cousin – Baton Rouge – with a population of 400,000, just became a majority-minority city in 2008.

About Houston: Although Houston is the fourth-largest city in the country, it is part of the sixth-largest MSA, or Metropolitan Statistical Area. Houston’s MSA is composed of ten counties and includes cities such as Baytown, Sugar Land, Galveston, Conroe, and The Woodlands.